Suggestive Sips

Sharing a bottle of wine with someone special can be an intimate encounter on its own. But pick up one of these seductive choices and the sparks will really fly:

Syrahtica
Orange flames flicker on the label, but turn the bottle upside down and you get an altogether different image: a shapely pair of women’s legs. The aptly name X Winery‘s Syrahtica is a blend of 99% Syrah and 1% Petite Sirah, sourced from California’s Paso Robles and Carneros regions. The wine is full of blackberry and black currant flavors, nicely rounded out with a bit of spice and just enough tannin to provide a backbone to go with those gorgeous gams.

“Wine in the Sack”
Chile’s Colchagua Valley is the home to these three varietal wines (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah), whose bottles are actually wrapped in burlap sacks. This tradition dates back to the eighteenth century, when the sacks protected the wines from sunlight, and the bottles from breakage, during transport. Of course, whether you choose to sip the wines in bed is entirely up to you.

Ménage à Trois
“Shared fantasies” is the French translation for Folie à Deux, the Napa Valley-based winery that produces these wines, each (of course) a blend of three grapes. Moscato, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc combine in the luscious and floral white, while Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have an encounter in the full and fruity red blend. Rosé, the winery’s newest offering, pairs Merlot, Syrah and Gewürztraminer in a bright, playful and aromatic way. Grab a bottle (or all three), and enjoy with two of your favorite imbibers.

<PKelly Magyarics is a wine writer and educator in the Washington, DC area. She can be reached through her Web site, www.trywine.net.